A Soldier's Tale
by LauraWinter
Summary: Belgarion's oldest son Geran is his most trusted military leader. What will he do when he encounters disobedience within the ranks of the soldiers? WARNING: Contains discipline in the form of spanking.


_**Disclaimer:** Geran, Riva and any other Belgariad/Malloreon reference belongs to David Eddings._

_**Warning:** This is a discipline fic so it contains spanking. Don't read it if it will offend you!_

_To those of you who are anxiously awaiting the last few chapters of my other story, 'Quileute Stone Legend Sequel'...don't worry, I'm working on it. I just want to make sure it is exactly how it needs to be. And this little one-shot has been plaguing me for quite a while and I don't think I can work on anything else until it is out of my brain._

_This story has nothing to do with Twilight...it is actually post Belgariad/ Malloreon (by David Eddings) which I'm sure most of you have never heard of. For those of you that have, I'm warning you that it doesn't have much to do with the plot of the books, I'm just using an adult Geran and his fictitious sister. For those of you that haven't read these books, there are some slight spoilers. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little tidbit._

**A Soldier's Tale**

Prince Geran of Riva stood in the officer's tent, supervising his soldiers. It was an overcast day on the island and the troops were training, for no reason in particular other than to keep them from getting soft. It had been a slow day and Geran was almost ready to call it. That was until he saw something that didn't quite fit with one of the soldiers. He saw a solitary figure, sword in hand and helmet shut tight, practicing each position with determined intensity. At one point, another of his men tried to cross swords with the other in order to give them both a chance to practice. But the lone soldier declined the offer by rudely swiping at the opponents' sword and ridding the approaching man of his weapon. Then the original soldier kept practicing alone as if there had been no interruption.

Geran told one of his guards to go fetch this soldier and bring him to the tent.

The soldier approached with his head held high, but Geran could sense that he wished to be anywhere but directly in front of the prince.

"I've noticed you practicing with your sword and I must say, you have beautiful technique."

"Thank you, my Lord." The soldier's voice was quiet and sounded extremely muffled coming out of that helmet he was wearing.

"Soldier, would you mind removing your helmet so that I can speak with you face to face?"

"I would rather not, sir."

Geran was a bit taken aback.

"I apologize if you thought that was a request. Take off your helmet, man."

"No sir." The soldier replied to Prince Geran.

Geran couldn't believe the audacity of this soldier. All he had done was ask him to remove his helmet. He had never met with such disobedience in his life.

"Maybe you didn't hear me correctly. I asked you to remove your helmet so that I could speak with you face to face. Is there a reason you wish to defy me?"

Geran was still a young man of twenty-four, but he could muster all the power and strength of a king just with the tone of his voice.

"I'm sorry, my Lord. I would rather keep my helmet on. I feel that it would be disrespectful to uncover my face in the company of the king's son."

Geran knew something strange was happening, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"Be that as it may, as you said, I am the king's son. I will say what is respectful and what is not. And I command you to take off your helmet. Do so now, or remove yourself from my army."

The soldier took a deep breath, placed one hand under the edge of the helmet and removed it in one quick motion. The entire crowd gasped in unison, then fell silent as Prince Geran rose one hand, commanding his troops to be quiet. In front of him stood not a soldier, but his sixteen year old sister, Danielle. Her deep red hair played around her face in wild curls, as if it was the mane of a lion. And her green eyes shone their independent fury toward her brother.

"Dani? What do you think you're doing?" He tried very hard to keep his anger at bay.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a soldier in the royal army."

There were some sniggers from the men in the front ranks, until Geran gave them a look that would quiet the wind. He turned back to his sister.

"You know very well that it is too dangerous for you to be in the military. Now return to your quarters, before you cause any more interruptions."

"Why is it dangerous for me? Because I'm a woman? You know very well that I can take care of myself with a weapon."

He placed both hands on the table in front of him and closed the distance between their faces. His eyes bored into hers like sharp daggers.

"It is too dangerous, young lady, because you are a princess. I know that Father would not appreciate the fact that his daughter secretly joined the army. I'm going to tell you one more time. Return to your quarters this instant, or you won't like the consequences."

She flashed him her most dangerous grin. "Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do to make me? I know very well you won't do anything in front of the entire army."

He returned her smile ironically, but it was quickly replaced with a look of cold fury as he firmly grabbed her wrist and brought her to the other side of the table to join him. He noticed the look of disbelief and fear written across her face and had to suppress a laugh. His sister Dani had always gotten herself into scrapes such as these. None of his other sisters had ever had her courage. Or maybe it was sheer stupidity. He almost regretted having to put her in her place. Almost. He held her chin in his hand, forcing her eyes to meet his. His voice was quiet, but she did not mistake the edge in it.

"One of these days, you'll need to learn how to curb your tongue, little girl. And until that day, I'm here to help you figure it out. Even if it has to be in front of the entire army." And with that, he placed his left foot up on a crude stool and tossed her over his raised knee. He pulled down her military issue pants to her knees so that her posterior was only covered by her thin underclothing. He picked up a leather strap used to sharpen the soldier's blades. But just before he began to teach his wayward sister a lesson, he looked to his troops.

"Let this be a warning to all of you as well." He called in a booming voice. "If ever you cross me, you will get one hundred times worse than what my brat of a sister has coming to her."

Then he brought the strap forcefully down onto his sister's backside. She yelped in pain and humiliation. Then he proceeded to cover her bottom with stinging swats from the strap. No amount of pleading or whining from Danielle would convince him to reduce the severity of her punishment. If he wasn't showing his men an object lesson of immense proportions, the soldiers would have been hooping and hollering at the scene before them. As it was, the only sound surrounding all of them was the sound of the strap across the young girl's backside and her cries for the punishment to end.

"Aaah! P-p-please Geran! Stop!"

He began to apply the strap to her tender sit spots and her sobbing intensified.

When he felt she had finally had enough, he placed the strap back on the table and replaced her pants. She winced when the material returned to her backside. But instead of letting her run back to the castle, he turned her back to face him.

"I hope you've learned a thing or two about your choice to defy me. And just so you know, I _will_ be telling our father about this little show you've put on for his troops. I'm sure he'll be delighted to hear about it."

If looks could kill, her eyes would have made him stone dead on the spot.

"Ephrett!" Geran called his captain of the guard over.

"Yes my lord." Ephrett arrived on horseback.

"Please see that my sister is escorted back to the castle unharmed. I wouldn't want her to lose her way."

"Unharmed?!" Danielle nearly choked. "You expect me to get on a horse after you...after what you did to me?"

Geran did not look sympathetically on his sister.

"You made the choice to impersonate a soldier and talk back to me. This is the safest and quickest way back to the castle. It is your _only_ choice at the moment." Then he turned back to Ephrett.

"Please make sure that a guard is placed outside of Princess Danielle's quarters. And inform my father that I will need to speak to him about this situation when he has a free moment."

"Yes, your Highness." He held his hand out to help the princess up, but Geran had already grabbed his sister around the waist and unceremoniously placed her on the back of the horse. She yelped again and sent him that death look once more.

He smiled and firmly patted the back of the horse to encourage faster galloping. The bumpier her return to the castle, the better. She needed the reminder.

The chattering among the men was growing louder until they realized that their prince was looking in their direction again.

"Well what are you waiting for?" He asked in his most stern voice of authority. "Get back in formation! We have a lot of work to do."

They scrambled back into their designated stations and Geran took charge.

Danielle looked back at the army and wished she could set fire to her brother's tent. Just as he had set a fire in her backside.

*

Danielle laid on her stomach on the bed in order to avoid further contact with her sore bottom. She had been in her room for what seemed like hours when Geran finally showed up at her door, requesting entry. He did not sound angry as he had earlier, so she warily gave her consent for him to come in.

"How are you, little one?" He asked. She was not going to be taken in by his sweet tone and repentant demeanor. She looked at him suspiciously.

"How do you think I am? My backside hasn't been this sore since father caught me after running away with one of his best horses."

Geran laughed despite the situation. "You can't very well run too far on an island, Dani. You had to know you'd get caught at some point."

"Maybe. But that was a long time ago. And now I fear I'm in for it again with him once you tell him what happened today."

He sat next to her and patted her consolingly on her back.

"Actually, I already told him."

"You what?!" She gasped as she sat up quickly, forgetting for a moment about the pain she was in.

"I thought you would at least wait until after supper! Is he coming now?"

"Relax, Dani. He's not coming at all. I told him everything. All about your subterfuge and the punishment you already received for it. He seemed to think that your earlier spanking was enough. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if he does choose to lecture you harshly on the subject later this evening."

She sighed in relief. She would not be able to stand any more physical discipline from anyone tonight. Although, her father's lecture might be just as bad.

"Geran...are you still mad at me?"

He placed his hand on his little sister's hand. "Dani, you made a mistake and you were punished for it. It is over and done with. Of course I am no longer angry. Besides, I'm used to your antics. You wouldn't be my lovable, harebrained sister if you weren't always getting into trouble."

She smiled at him, but then it turned into a slight frown.

"You didn't have to use that strap so hard. I won't be sitting comfortably for over a week, I'm sure."

"Well that's the point. Its a reminder not to make the same mistake again."

She stuck her bottom lip out. "Don't you feel the least bit sorry you caused me such discomfort?"

He laughed. "No, not really. And you should be thanking me. If I hadn't been that harsh, Father would probably be in here now to reiterate the lesson. He does not like you putting yourself in danger. And he especially doesn't tolerate disrespect. You got off easily, little girl."

"My tender backside says otherwise."

He smiled and pulled her into a hug.

"I spanked you because I love you. You know that, right?"

She nodded. "It would be nice if you loved me a little softer next time."

Then he helped her to stand. "Shall we go eat?"

"As long as I get to sit in one of the cushioned chairs." She took his arm and they went to join the rest of the royal family for supper.

_The End_


End file.
